Indian boxers continue unbeaten run, Nishant enters 2nd round

Nishant Dev (71kg) sailed into the second round while Govind Sahani (48kg) made the pre-quarters with a superb come-from-behind effort in his opening bout as Indian boxers continued to impress in the AIBA men’s boxing World Championships here on Wednesday.

While Nishant notched up a dominating 5-0 triumph over Hungary’s Laszlo Kozak, Sahani rallied from a round down to beat Ecuador’s Billy Arias Ortiz 3-2 in an edge of seat showdown.

Nishant’s win was a perfect start to the day for the country after Sumit (75kg) and Narender Berwal (+92kg) advanced to the second round of their respective categories with fine victories on Tuesday night.

Sumit defeated Jamaican Damon O’Neill 5-0 while Narender downed Poland’s Oskar Safaryan 4-1.

Another debutant Lakshya Chahar (86kg) lost to Korea’s Kim Hyeongkyu after the bout had to be stopped in the second round.

The action came to an unexpectedly early end when the Indian sustained a forehead cut that opened up despite medical attention. Chahar won the opening round 4-1, but the judges ruled in favour of Kim after the bout was stopped. India High Performance Director Santiago Nieva was seen expressing his displeasure with the decision.